3M reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; reaffirms FY14 EPS guidance (144.69)
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.91 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.91; revenues rose 4.9% year/year to $8.13 bln vs the $8.09 bln consensus. Co reaffirms guidance for FY14, sees EPS of $7.30-7.55 vs. $7.47 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
- Co paid $556 million in cash dividends to shareholders and repurchased $1.4 billion of its own shares during Q2.
- "Our businesses continued to execute very well in the Q2...Organic sales growth was again positive across all businesses and geographic regions which helped drive double-digit growth in EPS. Strong productivity fueled increased growth investments, and operating margins increased year-on-year to nearly 23%."
- "In addition to a strong operating performance, we are also deploying capital more aggressively to both improve the business and to enhance shareholder returns. On July 16, we announced the acquisition of the remaining 25% of our Sumitomo 3M subsidiary in Japan for a purchase price of $885 million. And during the second quarter we paid $2.0 billion to shareholders via a combination of cash dividends and gross share repurchases. My thanks to the 3M team for the results thus far in 2014."